Written In The Stars
by YoullNeverWalkAlone94
Summary: What if a death in Santana's life leaves her looking after her godchld. Now what happens when you add the godfathe in, who just so happens to be Santana's type? Follow the journey that the both go through with a child and a ilness. Santana/OC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Seriously guys! You need to get this down!" Santana Lopez yelled to her period 4 music class. They'd been working on the same song for 5 lessons now and it still wasn't clicking. It wasn't due to lack of talent because they had plenty of that, but a lack of confidence. That's where Santana comes in, her aim is to get these teens to come out of their shells. "Sarah you need o be nailing that note!" She continued and directed at the young girl.

"No no no! Guys, it should be '_Oh how i love you baby! Baby, baby, baby!'_ it needs to come from the diaphragm!" Santana was interrupted by her rant by a freshman walking into her classroom.

"Yes?" She asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Mr Jesep wants you in his office." Was all the young nervous student said from the doorway. Santana gave him a firm nod and watched him exit the classroom before turning back to the class.

"Ok, this lesson's ending early but next time this number will be down! You have about 20 minutes free, please use them wisely! Or you'll have me to deal with, Martin I'm looking at you!" She threatened to the class clown.

Santana packed up her own bags and hitched it around her arm before following the class outside the door. She went in the opposite direction to most students when they all cleared the doors. She checked her iPhone and laughed when she saw the picture that Brittany had sent her, Mike had been scratched again by there new cat and Santana found it hilarious, he's like some sort of cat repellent.

As she approached Principle Jesep's office she frowned when she saw the two officers in uniform waiting there with their heads down. She instantly had a bad feeling about this, her ears started ringing and all she could hear was the echo of her boots against the hard floor. She placed her hand on the glass door and pushed to open it. Whereas where she is usually overtook by a nice cool breeze, she was currently greeted by a tense air.

One of the police officers turned to her. "Miss Santana Lopez?" He asked.

"Yeah. Why?" She asked with a light frown on her face.

"There's been an accident. Involving Carly Masterson and her husband, they where dead on impact. You where down as there next to kin." The police officer bowed his head when he finished his sentence as a sign of respect.

Santana didn't know what to do, but she did know that it felt like all the blood in the body was rushing to her head. "No. Not possible." She said, refusing to accept that one of her best friends was dead.

"I'm sorry for your loss." The officer continued.

She knew she wanted to cry, but nobody apart from a selected few got to see Santana Lopez cry. "Ella! What about Ella?" She yelled when she remembered her godchild.

"She's currently in care—" Santana cut the police officer off.

"Where? She's not staying in care, she can stay with me." She said as she ran a hand through her dark hair.

"Your welcome to take her in care until the will is confirmed." An officer said.

"Wait, what? There will? Who else is gonna look after her? They had no other family and i'm her godmother!" Santana said through gritted teeth.

"We understand that she also has a godfather, one Jackson Reece, he's currently serving in Iraq until next week. There may be a possibility that they wanted Ella to live with him." They said carefully.

"Are you fucking serious? She's my godchild! I was at her birth! I helped name her!" She yelled, frustration taking over her.

"I'm sorry Miss Lopez." The second officer said. Both police men gave her a sad smile and shook hands with Principle Jesep before exiting the school.

Santana stood there for a second, not knowing what to do or where to start. She turned to her boss and went to open her mouth.

"Consider yourself on paid leave for 1 month Santana." He said as she nodded her thanks and followed the police officers example of leaving the office.

She just went from having to worry about nobody but herself, but now worrying about a 18 month year old and who's going to look after her, as well as planning her best friends funeral.

**NEW STORY! This one is pretty different...apart from the whole Santana/OC...Jackson Reece. Jackson will of course have tattoo's...because i love them, but thats all i'm telling you!**

**So review with what you think so far? Brittany will be pretty heavily in this too (just so you know) :p**

**P.S FUTURE CHAPTERS **_**WILL **_**BE LONGER!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Why does this feel so strange?_ Lance Corporal Jackson Reece thought to himself. His plane had just touched down at JFK after going on his 3rd tour to Iraq. In a weird way, he was sad to say that he was going to miss serving in the marines. That had been his life for the past 4 years. Fair enough he was only 22, but he joined straight after high school and got deployed the same year.

He had no family, nothing to lose in his opinion, and his battle wounds back that up. More than once has he took a bullet for his team members, and more than once as he seen some close friends and work colleagues die in front of him.

Apart from the scars, Jackson likes to think he got off pretty lightly. Well a few scars and PTSD, but considering some of his friends where coming home with missing limbs, he still considered himself lucky.

As he was walking through baggage to go and get his shoulder bag he could feel eyes on him. He shouldn't be surprised, he's in his uniform so he usually gets a few looks. One time when he was leaving on the plane, the passengers actually clapped him, let's just say he went red enough to match a cherry.

He nodded at the few people that kept eye contact with him when he actually looked at them. He paused when he reached a small set of eyes. A small boy, no older than 10 was looking up at him, his mouth wide open. It takes a lot to make Jackson upset, especially after some of the things he's seen, but this child reminded him the main reason he was taking his leave now and not resigning his contract. Ella Masterson.

Eric Masterson was Jackson's best friend. Eric was about 10 years older than Jackson and took him under his wing when Jackson entered the marines. When Eric met his future wife, Carly, Jackson heard all about it _all _the time. He was even the best man at the wedding...Well he was supposed to be...he got deployed about a week before and wasn't able to get leave.

Anyway. Keeping on track. About 3 days before Jackson was due to fly back to the states permanently he got a call. This call told him that his best friend had died in an accident, as did Carly. Jackson was proud of the way he handled it, he knew by the looks on his co-workers faces that they knew but he refused to be weak in front of them. He calmly asked what happened and what the next steps are. He also asked about Ella, his godchild, the person he loves more than anything. He found out she was going to be in the care of her godmother for now until it's decided about living situations.

Jackson doesn't remember too much after this. He can remember that he calmly hung up the phone and gave a sad smile to his c-workers before walking past them all to his bunk. After that he broke down. He knew the rest of the troops were doing drills and nobody would see him, so he let it out. He cried for the loss of his best friend, the effects it will have on Eric and Carly's family, and more importantly the effect it will have on Ella's life.

But that's the past. He can't do anything about it and that's life.

Jackson noticed his black shoulder bag coming towards him on the belt. He calmly moved forward and easily lifted the bag of the belt and hooked it over his left shoulder before turning around. As he did so he had to stop walking immediately. The little boy that was staring at him had followed him and was not standing in front of him.

"Are you a army man?" The little boy asked, showing the gap in-between his front teeth.

"Yeah." Jackson said with a friendly smile.

"Like, in real life?" The boy continued.

"Yeah man. I'm Jackson." He said and stuck his hand out for the little boy to shake. The boy looked at his hand and grinned before eagerly placing his hand in Jackson's and shaking it, his small hand disappearing in Jackson's hold.

"I'm Seth." The boy introduced himself. Jackson was about to carry on a small conversation with Seth when he noticed a frantic looking women trying to look over little heads. He tried to listen to what she was saying but couldn't make out much so he waved her over.

"Is he yours?" He asked, pointing to Seth.

"Mommy! Look!" Seth yelled excitedly. "It's a real life army man!" He continued as he bounced on his heels.

The women looked at Jackson apologetically. Jackson just shook his head and smiled at the women, silently telling her it's no trouble.

"Mommy! Can you take a picture?" The young boy said eyes wide. The mother looked at Jackson for permission. Jackson silently put his bag down and knelt down, considering it won't look to good if he's towering over this kid.

He knelt on one knee and smiled as Seth came closer to him and grinned widely. "Salute dude." Jackson said to him and put his own hand up to salute. Seth copied him and then looked at the camera, the grin still covering his face. The flash of the camera signalled that the photo was took and Seth ran to his mother so he could look at it.

"C'mon Seth. We've gotta go. Say thank you to the nice man."

The mother and child waved their goodbyes to Jackson as they left, putting him in a slightly better mood than he already was.

But know it was time to get serious. He pulled out the piece of paper he had wrote all the details he'd need on. Eric and Carly's lawyer was meeting him at Ella's godmother's house, along with some other family members and friends.

He checked the address and walked to the front to get a taxi. He told the man the address ad quickly asked how much it would be, seeing as he needed to go to a cash till and withdraw some money.

"Hey man, how much will it be to here?" Jackson asked.

The driver paused for a moment and looked Jackson up and down in the rear-view mirror.

"You just been serving?" He asked.

"Yes sir." Jackson said, sensing the authoritative tone in the man's voice.

"How long?"

"3 tours sir." Jackson answered.

"Then for you? Free of charge. It's the least i could do." The man said, a smile coming on his face and nodding at Jackson.

Jackson wanted to protest, but thought he should just do the smart thing. He took note of the taxi drivers medallion number and reminded himself that he needs to ring the company and give the driver a compliment. But for now, he had to go and get his god-daughter.

**So still not a GREAT DEAL happening, but that's Jackson introduced. If anyone wants to know anything, just ask and I'll tell you ;)**

**So guys, this is getting plenty of alerts, but no reviews...Whaaaa! Please review! Even if it's just a smiley face or a one word thing, or even if it's to say you hate it! **

**What if i told you, Jackson meets Santana and maybe Brittany in the next chapter. As-well as Ella...so the more you guys review...the quicker that gets posted. Yes i am trying to bribe you all. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I haven't even met the guy and I already don't like him." Santana said dryly as she walked into her kitchen where Brittany was playing with Ella.

Brittany looked up at Santana from her spot on the floor with a confused look on her face. Brittany was lying down on the floor and Ella was happily dancing around her singing Hannah Montana. "Who?" Brittany asked as she put her arms around Ella to stop her.

"This Jackson guy. He's already an hour late!" She said as she fixed herself a glass of water.

"Uncle Jacky!" Ella shouted, an excited grin taking over her face.

Even in the few days Ella had been living with her, Santana could tell straight away how much she loves this man.

"Yeah sweetie, uncle Jacky. He should be here soon." Santana said with a gentle smile. She bent down so she was eye to eye with Ella. "You wanna drink?" She asked the little girl. Ella nodded but Santana shook her head. "Use your words Hun." Santana gently told her. Ella knew a few words, not too many but she was starting to get better and able to link words together so it was Santana's mission to get her to learn more.

"Miwk." Ella mumbled quietly. Santana smiled at her and rubbed her head before she stood up and went to put some juice in Ella's Sippy cup.

As she was putting the lid onto the cup they heard Santana's doorbell ring out. "I'M ON IT!" They heard Mike shout from where he was sat with Robert, Carly and Eric's lawyer.

"If he's not here by 4, then he's not coming in at all." Santana said with a determined look on her face. Brittany was listening to her husband off 11 months open the front door, interested to who was there.

"You must be Jackson?" She faintly heard mike say.

"I think he's here now." Brittany told Santana.

Santana looked at the blonde questioningly, wondering how she knew. If she had off been watching Ella she would have saw the small girl listening carefully, and her eyes brightening when she heard a voice. She ran out of Santana's arms and headed for the front door.

"ELLA!" Santana hissed as she was worried she would fall, knowing she doesn't have the best balance.

_**With Jackson...**_

He was late. He knew that. But in fairness it wasn't his fault, there was a crash on one of the major roads on the way to the house, he got stuck in it for an hour and a half. It did give him time to talk to the cab driver though. It turns out that he had served in Iraq not too long ago, at a similar base that Jackson was. It got Jackson thinking, what was he going to do for a career? He's going to need a way to provide for Ella; sure he has money saved up but not enough to bring her up.

"Here we go, man." The cab driver said as they pulled up. Jackson thanked the man and once again offered to pay him, but the driver still refused.

"Goodbye sir." Jackson said as he waved the man off. He turned around and looked at the building, he soon realised it was apartments. He walked up the door and glanced at his piece of paper again, number 13, it said. He walked through the front door and walked up the stairs, he carried on climbing and shifting his bag over his shoulder as he did. After the 4th load of stairs he came across door 13. He put his bag more security on his shoulder and knocked 3 times before taking a step back and waiting for it to open.

He heard a deep voice yell something and the door opened shortly after. "You must be Jackson?" The Asian man said as he opened the door and saw Jackson standing there.

"Yes sir." He said politely and put his hand out to shake.

"I'm Mike." The man told him with a smile before reaching out to accept the handshake.

"Jacky!" he heard a familiar voice yell. Since the first time Ella learnt to kind of say his name, he can't help but smile every time he hears it. If it was anyone else calling him 'Jacky' he would punch them square in the jaw, but since it's Ella he'll let her.

"Ella baby!" He said loudly as he picked up and spun the little girl around in his arms, it made his stomach go warm when he heard her joyous laugh. "How've you been baby girl?" He asked, grinning when he heard her laugh harder and squeal.

Meanwhile with Santana and Brittany. They both heard the sudden deep scratchy voice from the front room, and it caught both of their attentions. "Please tell me you just heard that voice version of sex?" Santana asked from where she stood.

"Can a voice may someone pregnant?" Brittany wondered out loud. Santana looked at her for a second before shaking her head and pulling Brittany into the front room. She froze at the sigh she saw there.

Ella was in the arms of a tall man. Not just any tall man, a tall army man. And not just any tall army one, a tall army man who's sex on legs! He had short hair that was saved on the back and sides but about 2cm's long on the top. He had bright blue eyes that where almost black around the edges. His jaw was sharp and covered into stubble. He had a light scar on his cheek bone near his eye but it was nothing that was standing out too much, hell Santana only noticed it because she was sensing that a new hobby of hers will be staring at his face.

Jackson noticed the women staring at him, a brunette and a blonde. Both where pretty, but the brunette was stunning. She had her hair down and slightly curly with light make up, which appealed to Jackson more since he prefers girls without it. She had on a pair of jeans with a plain white vest, simple but effective. She was thin, thinner than Jackson liked but it didn't take away from her looks.

"Hi!" The blonde said to him with a bright smile. "I'm Brittany." She continued. Jackson smiled at her and placed Ella on the floor and walked up to the blonde.

"I'm Jackson." He told her and stuck out his hand, offering to shake hands. Brittany shook her head and reached up to hug him, taking him by surprise. She let go after a few seconds and Jackson turned his head to the girl that was next to her.

Santana looked at Brittany hugging Jackson and instantly felt jealous, he looked so comfy. When he turned to her she smiled at him and stuck her hand out. "I'm Santana." She told him.

"Jackson." He stated as he took her hand. "Nice to meet you." He added with a smile, loving how his hand completely swallowed hers up.

"Mr Reece! You're late." Jackson heard a familiar voice complain.

"Robert. Always a pleasure." He told the man. Robert had never liked Jackson and he doesn't know why.

"Yes well, let's get down to business shall we?" Robert clipped before walking over to the chair near the couch and sitting down. Mike, Brittany, and Santana followed and sat on the three seated couch. Jackson looked around and just decided it would be easier to sit on the floor since there were no other seats.

"Wait, dude you don't need to sit on the floor." Mike said and nudged Brittany. The blonde soon got the hint and lifted herself onto Mike's lap, Santana then moved over a seat so she was in the middle which left the seat on the end for Jackson (Who Ella still hasn't let go off.)

"Thank you." He said with a nod. "Ella baby, why don't you go and play with Maxy for a bit?" He asked Ella gently, knowing that she loves to play with Maxy AKA the teddy he gave her when she was a little baby. The little girl nodded and ran to the den where she knew Maxy was.

They went through the will pretty quickly seeing as it was only a few things that they've actually thought to put on it at such a young age.

"And finally, Ella Masterson. It says she is by the request of Carly and Eric Masterson that she is meant to be in joint-custody of both Jackson Reece and Santana Lopez, her godparents." He announced and pushed his glasses further up his nose.

Jackson looked out of the corner of his eye at Santana, trying to see her reaction. "Does it say anything about living arrangements?" Santana asked with a frown.

Robert looked down at his paper and shook his head. "Then obviously she's living with me." Santana stated.

"Wait. What. Why?" Jackson protested.

"Because she's my god-child!" Santana replied.

"Yeah well she's mine too!" Jackson protested.

"Ok, I'm going to break it down for you. You _just_ came out the army right?" She paused for his reply, carrying on when he nodded. "Which means you have no job, no house, and are in place to care for an 18 month year old!" Santana told him.

Jackson looked at her for a minute before looking at his hands. "Your right." He mumbled and stood up. He spotted the balcony on the opposite side of the room and quickly walked over to it, thankfully it was open so he opened the door and walked out on the balcony. He took out his cigarettes and pulled one out of the box along with a lighter. He lit one up and put it in his mouth and took a long drag.

"Fuck sake." He muttered to himself. He leant his arms on the ledge and looked at the people below him; he took another drag and then flicked it to get the ash of it.

Santana watched Jackson's retreating form and almost felt bad for what she said, well, not what she said but how she said it. She looked at him as he lit up his cigarette and glanced at her own that where in her pocket. Making a quick decision she followed him out the doors silently.

Jackson heard the sound of a lighter and Santana taking a drag of her own cigarette. "I'm sorry for being so harsh." She said as she breathed out.

Jackson shook his head. "No. You were right. I can't support a kid right now. I just...I love her so much." He mumbled.

"I wasn't saying it to be mean. I know you love her, I love her too. That's why her staying here would be best for now. I'm not saying you can't visit, I mean you can come over anytime to come see her." She offered, trying to give him some space. He was standing with his hands covering his face, cigarette still in hand.

"It's—I love her—it's a lot harder than I thought." He mumbled. Santana knew he was upset, she knew that feeling. She stumped her cigarette on the railing and let it rest next to her; she then walked over to him and put an arm around his back.

"Your gonna do great with her. It's new for both of us so we'll help each other...a little word of warning though...Never and I mean NEVER let Brittany dress her. I did once and she was in a rainbow jumpsuit. Not nice." She joked.

Jackson let out a small chuckle and moved away his hand and stumped his cigarette out.

"C'mon let's get back in there." Santana told him. Jackson followed after her, determined to sort his newly free life out.

**Guys. Seriously a whole bunch of you are adding this to your alerts, but not reviewing! (Thanks ****Ggfanatic1993 by the way!) Seeing all the alerts make me so happy that people are enjoying it, but reviews give me motivation! Even if you want to see a certain thing happen in the story, tell me and I'll see what I can do!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After two hours of making arrangement, Santana and Jackson finally had an agreement worked out. It shoudn't have taken as long as it did, but with interruptions from Ella it turns out she needed more attention than they thought.

"I should get going." Jackson stated when he glanced at his watch. He still had to find a hotel to stay for a few weeks while he can find a place to live. He figures if he can find a place quickly, he'll get more time with Ella.

"Oh...Have you got a place to say?" Santana asked him. Jackson knew he couldn't tell her that he didn't because she will most likely offer his couch and considering he only sleeps about 3 hours he didn't want to disturb her or Ella.

"Erm, yeah. I booked a place on the way here." He told her with a smile. "Is it ok if I come around here tomorrow...to see Ella?" Jackson requested.

"Of course. It's Sunday so we'll both be here." She told him.

Jackson nodded at her and turned to Mike and Brittany to shake their hands. Mike returned the handshake with a smile; Brittany however smacked his hand away and pulled him into a hug.

"So still on for the gym on Monday?" Mike asked him. Jackson and Mike seemed to off hit it off straight away, it's weird for Jackson...having people to care about, but he has a feeling he'll like it.

"Yeah. What time and where?" Jackson asked him as he picked up his bag and lifted it onto his shoulders.

"How about you give me your phone number and I'll text the details to you?" Mike offered. Jackson nodded to him and handed his phone over so Mike could enter his number.

"Jacky!" he heard Ella shout. The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Jacky go?" She asked him.

Jackson looked at her sadly and knelt down to her level. "Yeah baby. I've got to go for now. But I'm gonna be back tomorrow." He told her. Ella nodded and opened her arms; Jackson welcomed the hug and pulled her tight to him, rubbing up and down her back until he was sure she wasn't crying anymore. "Be good for Santana."He told her. The little girl nodded again and walked up to Santana and wrapped her arms around her legs.

Santana bent down to her level so she could whisper in her ear. "Why don't you go and get Maxy to watch a movie before bed?" Santana requested. Ella smiled excitedly and ran off to retrieve Maxy.

Jackson smiled at Mike when he handed his phone back before turning to Santana. He walked over to her and was debating internally whether to hug her or not. "Thanks for being awesome about things today." He mumbled to her. Santana just smiled in response and stuck her hand out.

"Nice meeting you." She told him. Jackson stuck his own hand out to meet hers and shook it gently.

After everyone had said there goodbye's Jackson left to go and find a hotel. He decided it was best to find somewhere where he can sit and decide on somewhere before he starts roaming the city. Luckily for him, just around the corner was a 24 hour diner.

"Excuse me?" He asked the elderly women behind the counter. "Do you have any yellow pages?"

"Yeah darlin'. Why don't you take a seat and I'll bring them over to you." She asked with a friendly smile.

He found a table in the corner that was under a light so he'll be able to read clearer. He sat down and took a few things out of his bag; his phone, notepad, and pen.

"Here you go honey. Can I get you anything else?" The women asked him as she placed the big book on the table.

"Can I have a coffee please?" Jackson asked. The women nodded and poured him some coffee that she had in her hand.

Once she left Jackson immediately went to the hotel section in the book. He was looking for ones that he would be able to stay in for a week or two, hoping he'd find a permanent place sooner rather than later.

After an hour of looking for places and comparing them on his notepad he finally decided on a top three that he would try.

After paying for his coffee he thought he may as well walk to the first hotel considering it's only about 10 minutes away...he thinks.

Luckily the first place he tried had one last room that he would be able to stay in for a while. Jackson got to his room and stripped off his jacket straight away, relieved at the breeze hitting his arms. He hadn't taken off any of his uniform all day and he's been sweating more than a nun in a sex shop. After stripping of his pants too he walked into the small bathroom and hopped in the shower. Jackson looked at his arms, there were a few scores on them but what he was more distraught at was the fact that on his right where he has half sleeve of tattoo's and then a few other designs on his forearm looked worn. Tattoo's aren't ideally meant to be in sun all the time...his had been in a boiling hot country for months at a time where his arms are almost always on show.

After his shower he pulled on his boxers and lay on the bed, arms resting behind his head whilst he looked up at the ceiling. He knew he was only getting a few hours sleep so he figured he may as well get them done now. He pushed the covers down and pulled them over himself and turning on his side, letting a dream filled sleep take him over.

"_Belay! I repeat Belay! Stop what you're doing, do NOT listen to that order!" Jackson shouted through his recover. The sound of gunshots and bombs going off in the distance was almost deafening, meaning that if he didn't shout there's no chance his co-workers would hear._

_Jackson walked on cautiously, keeping an eye out for the enemy. "Chop-chop!" He spoke to the receiver, knowing his team will be following his orders and picking up the pace. "Reece. 11 o clock." He calmly heard through his ear piece. Jackson turned to the correct angle and took aim with his weapon, he observed the person a little while longer before making a call. _

"_Civy." He stated before continuing forward, indicating that it was just a civilian. _

"_REECE." An angry voice of his sergeant roared through his headset. _

"_Sir?" _

"_Why did you give out that order to carry on? You're supposed to be heading back."_

"_Sir, with all due respect we're less than five minutes away from clearing the area and myself and my team would all like to get it down with." _

_There was a pause over the radio. "Fine. But when it's done you and your men are straight back." _

"_C'mon boys. Little bit longer and we can head back to base. I'm sure there's food waiting for us." He told them, hoping to increase spirits slightly._

"_If there's not I'm gonna shoot someone." Andrew, one of his men joked._

"_And that is why we take the gun off you." Joey, another young man said._

_Jackson was happily laughing along, still keeping his eye on the environment. He was about to say another comment when he heard a click. "STOP." He shouted. He turned around and everything seemed to go in slow motion. He saw Joey looking down at his foot, when Jackson saw what he was looking at his heart dropped...it was a mine. He looked back up to Joey immediately noticing the tears in the young man's eyes. Jackson tried to silently tell him he's sorry with his eyes._

"_GET DOWN!" He screamed at the top of his voice. Before he or any of his team had time to react the bomb went off, blowing all of them about a hundred metres away from their original spot. Just as Jackson was about to hit the ground—_

He woke up shouting, the sweat dripping of him. He looked around, checking the scenery before gasping for breath. Jackson doesn't remember much after that, apart from the fact that he woke up to screaming and blood around him. Only 3 out of the 10 members, himself included, survived. And it was his fault.

**With Santana...**

Her reaction to Jackson the night before can be summed up in three words; 'holy sweet hell.' Seriously, the man was a big chunk of man candy. To add to it, he was _super_ good with Ella which was a big plus to any woman.

"Hey Sweetie." Santana said to Ella as she stumbled out of her bedroom the next day. Ella looked up at her and gave her a tired smile before reaching her arms up, wanting Santana to pick her up.

Santana picked the small girl up and kissed her cheek as she carried her to the kitchen. As she was pouring Ella some cheerio's in her bowel she heard the phone ring. "Here you go baby. I'll be back in a minute." She told Ella as she put the small plastic bowel in front of her.

When she reached the phone she had a quick check of caller ID. "What's up Britt?" She asked and walked back to the kitchen.

"How do you get rid of the smell of cat pee?" The blonde asked with a nasally voice.

"Britt why do you sound weird?" Santana said with a frown. She glanced at Ella to make sure she was ok as she walked to the cutting board. She balanced the phone between her ear and shoulder as she started to prepare some pancakes.

"—and in the end Charity decided to use the bed as her litter tray. But know the house stinks and we can't get rid of it." Brittany finished, not knowing Santana only caught the end.

"I don't know how to get rid of it. Air freshener?" She suggested.

"Tried it. What do you use to get rid of the smell of Ella? She always smells good, what do you use?"

Santana let out a laugh and looked over to Ella. "Britt Ella for one thing isn't a cat. Also she doesn't pee anywhere else apart from her nappy, she's potty training. Why don't you just Google it?"

"GOOGLE! Didn't think of that. Thanks. Bye. Love you." Before Santana had the chance to reply she heard the dial tone, indicating Brittany had hung up. Straight away afterwards she heard her doorbell ring.

"For fucks sake. Its 8:30, why is everyone awake!"She mumbled to herself. She pulled the door open and gasped when she saw Jackson standing there in a pair of black cargo shorts that where scrunched up just below his knee along with a pair of Nikes on his feet and a grey zip up hoodie. Santana immediately became aware of the fact that she was in her PJ's still which consisted of grey shorts along with a white tank top.

"Jackson!" She exclaimed.

"Oh sorry. Am I too early?" He asked with a worried look on his face.

"Sorta...but no worries. Me and Ella where awake anyway." She told him and opened the door wider so he could come in. "How come you're up and about this early?" She asked him as they walked into the kitchen.

"I—I guess—let's just say I don't really sleep to well." Santana sensed it was a topic he didn't want to discuss so decided to let it go.

"Hey baby girl." He said as he caught sight of Ella munching on her breakfast happily.

"Jacky!" She shouted with a mouth full of food. Jackson held a finger up at her and pointed to his mouth and done a chewing motion, Ella looked at him and copied until her mouth full of food was gone.

"That's my girl." He muttered and went over to hug her.

"Erm Santana? I was thinking that today I could take you and Ella out...for the day. All spend some time together? You don't have too...I mean why would you? I show up at the ass crack of dawn, you're not gonna want to spend longer with me—"

"Jackson." She said to stop his mumbling. "I'd love too."

**So, this is a little choppy and I'm not a HUGE fan of it but I wanted to get it out.**

**PEOPLE. You need to tell me what you think, feedback is good! Or even if you want to see something happen, for example more Brittany and Santana, or more Ella, whatever you want, suggest it and I'll see what I can do!**

**So c'mon, give me a review...pretty please with a cherry on top?**


	5. Chapter 5

"So where are we going?" Santana asked Jackson as they were walking down the stairs of her apartment building.

Santana had quickly gotten Ella changed and threw some clothes on herself as Jackson waited patiently in the kitchen. She debated calling Brittany to ask how she could ask with someone who's went as through as much as he has.

"Well I was walking last night and there's a park about ten minutes away from here that has a bunch of diners around it. I thought we could spend a few hours on the park and then go get some lunch?" Jackson questioned, not sure if she'd be into sitting on the ground most of the day.

"That sounds awesome. Isn't it right Ella?" Santana said and then looked in front of her where Ella was walking. The little girl turned around to them both and looked at them with a smile.

"Pak?" She asked, well, tried to ask.

"Yeah baby, park."

The threesome carried on walking, talking about little things as they do. Jackson asked Santana about her career and was impressed with the passion she used when she talked about music.

"What got you into music Miss Lopez?" Jackson asked with a smile.

Santana smirked and looked up at him. "I don't know. I just did." She replied.

Jackson looked at her and laughed when he saw her facial expression. "See the smirk on your face tells me otherwise."

Santana laughed with him for a moment before taking a breath. "Alright but if you laugh, I WILL cut you. Got it?" She asked, continuing when she saw Jackson nod his head in response. "When I was in high school my cheerleading coach wanted me and my two best friends to join Glee club so we could split it up...but we really started to get into it...and it became the best part of my day. Then one night I was singing in an open mic night and a scout from NYU was there and offered me a scholarship and I took a shine to teaching." She finished.

"Glee club? Awesome." He said with a friendly smile.

"You don't find it funny?"

"Nahhh. It's pretty cool. I wasn't in any clubs in high school so you've got me beat. But why did you go to teaching? Why not theatre or something?" He wondered.

"Because it's two things I love. One, bossing people around and generally being a bitch. Two, music." She said as if it was obvious.

"Fair game." Jackson chuckled. "Here it is." He added as they approached the park.

He noticed Ella wanting to run off into the park so he jogged a few steps so he could stop her. "Ella when you're in there you don't talk to anyone apart from me and Santana ok? And if anyone tries to talk to you, you scream." He told her. The young girl looked at him and nodded before skipping into the park and jumping in the sand pit.

Santana watched the whole interaction between them both, in awe of how quick Jackson had adapted to looking after her. "She really looks up to you." She stated as he let Santana pass before him.

Jackson blushed at the compliment. "Yeah well, I'd die for her." He said as he rubbed the back of her neck.

Santana could feel her heart beating against her chest. It wasn't just the fact that this insanely attractive guy had a soft spot for kids. It was that this insanely attractive guy had a soft spot for Ella.

"You'd be a great dad." She mumbled.

"Hmmm. I wish, but I can't have kids." He replied.

"Can't or don't want to?" Santana asked carefully.

"Can't. I have a low sperm count. There's a possibility I could, but it's not very likely. I guess that's why I care about Ella so much; she's probably the closest thing I'll have to a child."

Santana could sense he wasn't too comfortable talking about the subject so she let it drop. "We could sit there." She said, standing on her tip toes and pointing to a spot under a tree a few meters away from the park. Jackson paused at a minute and looked her up and down.

"You're really short." He noted.

Santana turned to him and scoffed before slapping him on his arm. "Maybe you're just insanely big?" She countered.

"Well yeah! I'm 6 foot 4, I'm a big guy! But you're still a short-ass." Santana laughed at him and grabbed his arm to pull him to the tree.

"I speak the truth." Santana heard Jackson say. She continued dragging him towards the tree, laughing to herself. What she didn't know is that Jackson spent the time checking out Santana. What can he say? He's a man.

Santana glanced behind her as they reached the tree, just managing to see Jackson checking out her ass. Since they were a few steps away she decided to throw in some extra swing in her step.

The pair sat down and watched Ella play in the sandbox, talking with some of the other kids around her. "So have you started looking for a place to live yet?" Santana asked him.

"Sorta...kinda...not really. I mean, I window shopped but I haven't actually looked in detail yet. I might do later." He replied with a shrug.

"What are you looking for?" She asked.

"...Somewhere to live?" he said with a smirk.

Santana looked at him with a frown. "Hardy har." She quipped.

"Nahh. I think a flat...something sorta small. I mean it does only gonna be me there and Ella sometimes. I guess it needs to be fairly close to your place too."

"Stalker." Santana said in a cough, laughing when he nudged her shoulder with his. She went to say something else when a thought popped in her mind. "You want somewhere near me right? I know for a fact the apartment two down from mine is available." She suggested.

"Seriously? You live in a nice building though, does it not cost loads?" He asked.

"You'd think...rents actually really good." She told him and waved at Ella who was looking at them. Ella waved back and started to wave her hands in the direction that she is, signalling that she wants Jackson and Santana with her. Jackson saw this and stood up before turning to Santana and sticking his hand out to help her up. She put her hand in his and allowed herself to be pulled up.

However Jackson underestimated how light Santana was and pulled her to his chest. Santana let out a breath and looked up at him. "If you wanted a hug you only had to ask." She teased to lighten the mood.

Jackson laughed and gave her a gentle squeeze before letting go.

"Ella baby." Jackson said as they approached the young girl. Ella smiled back at him and turned to a young boy that was next to her.

"Jacky solder man." She told the young boy and pointed at Jackson. "Tana!" She added and pointed at Santana. The young boy looked at Jackson with awe. He brought his hand up to his head, effectively doing a salute to Jackson. Jackson laughed and stood up straight before bringing his hand up, saluting back at the boy. The young boy smiled and run off in to the distance.

"Alright then. What do you two say to ice-cream?" Jackson asked, laughing when Ella started to run around the pair in excitement.

**So i know this is short, and not that good but this story is drawing a blank in my mind. I have a Chapter plan but every time i look at it my brain shuts down. So, this means that updates aren't going to be very often for a while.**

**This is not a BRITTANA fic. I'm sorry for anyone that has thought it is. Believe me, Brittana is my main ship too, but I find it hard to write them both and i have no clue why. I might try in the future but for now this is Santana/OC. You can feel free to stop reading if your disappointed in this, no hard feelings **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"I can't believe you got two flavours. That's just wrong." Jackson said as he stared at Santana's ice cream cone. The trio spent 20 minutes trying to decide on flavours and queuing. Ella walked alongside Santana with her hand reaching up to clasp against her godmothers, not wanting to get separated.

Santana looked at him with a glare. "Calm down gigantor. I like to shake things up, deal with it. I like chocolate and strawberry, it's not _that _weird."

"Oh but you see, it is _that _weird. I think the face on the guy who served us proved that. Stop shooting evil eyes at me, it's creepy." He said with a frown. He turned away and looked ahead of him to avoid her staring, occasionally glancing at the girl and noting she was still glaring. "Seriously, what the fuck? Don't you need to blink?"

Santana opened her mouth and swung an arm around to hit him in the stomach. "Language in front of Ella!" She hissed at him. "Anyways, how about we head back to my building and check out that apartment?"

"Do you not need to go to a dealer or anything?" Jackson asked, unsure.

"It's a private seller. We just gotta talk to the landlord, he's like a beast but he's all talk." Santana shrugged.

"Alright awesome," Jackson paused and stopped in front of Ella, causing the young girl to look up at him with a smile, "wanna go find me a place to live, baby girl? Here, can I hold your ice cream?" Jackson paused again whilst the little girl thought about it, eventually handing him her cone. He turned around and handed the ice cream to Santana. Turning back to Ella he put his hands under his arms and lifted her in the air before turning her so she sat on his shoulders, legs wrapped tightly around his neck and her hands resting on the top of his head. He then gently took the ice cream from Santana's hands before offering it back to Ella. "You set?" He asked Santana who was looking at him in a grin.

"Totally."

"Mr Belling?" Santana called into the reception area of her building. Standing on her tip toes to try and enable her to look around the corner and see if he's in the room. She sighed in annoyance and rang the bell a few more times before turning to Jackson and Ella with a frown on her face.

"You frown too much." Jackson complained as he approached her, Ella happily sitting down on a kids table swinging her legs. Him saying this caused Santana's frown to become deeper. "Seriously, stop it" Jackson said with a chuckle. He slowly reached his hand up to rub at the crease on her forehead, trying to stop her frown. Santana's face slowly relaxed as he gently rubbed her head. _Damn he smells good. Oh and his hands, just imagine the things he can do with them. _She thought to herself happily.

Jackson took this time to look at Santana. _Really look. _ He noted that her eyes weren't just brown; they reflected the light perfectly and appeared to be the colour of rich chocolate. Lips where perfect and almost heard shaped with the tiniest of scars just underneath her bottom lip. When he heard her breath hitch he realized what he was doing and was probably overstepping a boundary. He quickly removed his hand and looked at the ground, his head snapping up when he heard a deep clearing of the throat coming from behind Santana.

"Whattya want Lopez?" He directed towards Santana.

"That apartment down my hall. My friend wants to look at it." She said, short and snappy. Mr Belling turned his head and eyed Jackson.

"Why're you moving, kid?" He asked with a jerk of the head.

"I've just finished serving in the Marines, sir. I'm looking for a place to live." Jackson explained politely.

The balding man looked at Jacksons for a second before nodding his head and grabbing a master key and walking out. "C'mon then." He called after the trio. Santana picked Ella up and placed her in her hip before following Mr Belling, Jackson walking next to her. They climbed the two levels of stairs and came to a door that had 13JA written on the front. Mr Belling shuffled with the keys for a minute before he got the door open and walking in and gesturing for Jackson to have a look around.

Jackson, Santana and Ella all had a quick look around the apartment. It had a small kitchen, two bedrooms, a large living room, and a small balcony.

"There's a laundry room downstairs that's free for tenants, it comes partly furnished so you'll just need the basics." Mr Belling told them when they walked back to the living room.

"How much are we looking at?" Jackson questioned.

"500 bucks a month that includes electricity and water." He told him.

Jackson saw Santana frown at the corner of his eye and held up a finger to Mr Belling, slightly asking him to wait a minute. He placed his hand on Santana's shoulder and turned her around so they where in a small huddle.

"What up with the face?" He asked with a laugh.

"What's up is that your rent is 200 bucks cheaper than mine! The fuck?" She exclaimed, making Jackson role his eyes and turn back around.

"How much will you need upfront?"

"12 months worth." Mr Belling stated.

Jackson paused for a minute before glancing around him and then looking at Ella. "Alright. I'll go the bank tomorrow, can I pay in cash?" He asked, smiling gently when the man nodded "When can I move in?"

"As soon as the money's paid."

"Well Ella's out like a rock." Jackson said as he walked into Santana's kitchen. The three of them decided to go back to Santana's so Jackson and Santana could talk, but as soon as Ella even touched the couch she fell asleep. So Jackson volunteered to put her in bed whilst Santana made them some drinks.

"What the fuck does that even men? Out like a rock? Since when are rocks...out?" Santana mumbled.

"As in she's like a rock...unmoving." Jackson added.

"Yeah but that doesn't mean the _out _bit makes any sense. You're just talking crap." She told him as she handed him a cup of coffee.

Jackson grinned at her and made his way into the living room and sat on the couch, sliding his shoes off and putting his legs up on the small table in front of them.

"Make yourself at home." Santana said sarcastically.

"I already have, don't you worry your little frowning head."

"You're so not funny."

"I think I'm fucking hilarious." He said with a small laugh before he took a big breath and turned his body to face Santana, "We gotta talk about some things." He stated.

Santana nodded and place her cup on the table so she could put her legs on the couch and face Jackson.

"Since it looks like I'm gonna be living literally 20 seconds away, I have no problem with Ella staying here. As long as I can have her some nights." He told her, keeping the whole thing short and sweet.

"That's great. I have a question, what are you gonna do about money?"

"Well I have quite a bit saved up from being on tour. I don't have any family so apart from sending money to Ella every month...I saved most of my pay checks. So that'll cover me until I can get a job."

"One more thing...tells me about the tours." Santana told him, not really leaving him much choice.

"Are you sure? It's kind of a downer." He said slowly. He took a deep breath and pushed his hand through his hair when she nodded.

"Alright. For starters my full title is Lance Corporal Jackson Reece. I signed up when I was 18 and got deployed the same year, meaning I did four years in total. I've got so many scars I seriously can't count them all. I did 1 tour in Egypt and 1 in Iraq. I think the Iraq one was the hardest to deal with. It was the first time that it was me in charge of my team. There was an accident though...it was my team and I going through some shrubbery outside a village and we had just got to safety from being under fire. I remember hearing a click...to anyone who knows anything about bombs that's pretty much the international signal for an IED. I shouted the order for nobody to move, once I made sure I wasn't on one I turned around and looked at the ground and saw that my best friend, Joey, was stood on one. I-I don't think the look that he had on his face will ever leave me...tears where leaving his eyes. Then we heard a gunshot...and he jerked, which meant the explosion went off. Myself and 2 other members got threw out of the way with just some burns and scars. But 7 died. All blown to pieces. I think it was that that ended it for me, I don't like seeing people I care about get hurt and Ella needed me. But I guess I came of pretty lucky to have some scars and PTSD." He explained, not once making eye contact with Santana, scared that it might make him look like less of a man.

Jackson sniffed and bent down to take a mouthful of coffee, just as he placed the cup back down he felt a pair of hands on his head, forcing him to turn. Still refusing to look up he felt Santana push her forehead against his, making her nose gently nudge his own. After a few seconds she dipped her head and softly pressed her lips against his. It took a few moments for Jackson to respond but slowly he started moving his own to push back against hers. Santana moved her arms so they where around his neck, playing with his hair softly. Jackson moved his own hands so one was resting on her hip and the other was on her neck, gently keeping her head up and pulling her closer at the same time.

Santana pulled back a centimetre to quickly look in his eyes before moving forward again and taking his bottom lip between hers and slightly tugging on it, moaning quietly as she did so. Hearing this seemed to wake Jackson up from the bubble he was currently in. He pulled back with a gasp and stood up before brushing down his shirt.

"Th—I—that shouldn't happen. No. It can't. I've gotta go. Thanks for the coffee Miss Lopez." He rushed out as he opened the door and walked out.

Santana's eyes followed him as she touched her lips, still enjoying the tingling feeling she was having. She let out a sigh and picked up her phone and pressed some buttons before pressing it to her ear.

"Britt? Fuck my life." She said as she heard the receiving end lighten up.

"What? Why?" Brittany asked with a giggle.

"I went and kissed Mr McFuckMe didn't I? Britt he walked out!"

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. To make it even more awkward he's gonna be living down the hall. But damn if that boy can kiss!"

"Did you enjoy it?" Brittany asked.

"No I absolutely hated kissing the hot ex-marine. Of course I enjoyed it!"

"Did you start it?" Brittany carried on.

"Yeah! He was telling me about his tours, and all these stories and my heart just went out for him. And it was so nice to see a guy with motions."

"HEY! Mike has emotions!" Brittany argued.

"Britt, Mike has too many emotions. He cries every time a charity advert comes on.

"No he doesn't he just always get's something in his eye."

**Holy crap. I am so so so so so SO SORRY! **

**I totally got sidetracked from writing but I've got some ideas for this story. **

**I'm gonna try and write the next chapter and have it posted by the end of the week. BUT reviews always give me encouragement ;P**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It'd been two days since the kiss between Santana and Jackson. Jackson had only been in touch once to speak to Ella, using the excuse that he's been looking for jobs all day. Santana tried to act like it didn't affect her, but on the inside she' was worried everything is now going to be awkward and that it might affect his relationship with Ella.

Currently Santana was covering for a friend of hers who was of sick, meaning she had to sit in the detention room for two hours watching misbehaving high school students. "Carson. Homework. Now." She snapped at the young boy who was trying to text on his phone under the table. She glanced above the door to see how much longer was left; as she went to look away she saw a familiar face in her peripherpral vision. Thinking quickly she mumbled out "I'm just going the bathroom. You all better be here when I get back." Before she walked quickly out the door, closing it quietly after her.

"Jackson?" She called softly, a small smile gracing her lips when he turned around with wide eyes.

"Hey, San." He replied in an equally soft tone.

"What're you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm seeing this guy—I've forgotten his name..."

"Mr Jesep?" Santana offered.

"Yeah!" He said with a grin, "He said he's got a job open for me teaching gym. Its good pay and easy enough to do. I didn't know you taught here." He told her, in an almost regretful tone.

"Why've you been avoiding me?" She blurted out.

"Huh?"

"You've been going out of your way to make sure you don't see me since the kiss."

"No I haven't." Jackson tried to deny.

"Don't fuck with me Jackson. Yes you have."

Jackson hesitated for a moment before glancing around the hallway. He took a step towards her, "Listen, San, everyone I care about or get close to, die. As simple as that. My brother died. My grandma died. Joey died. And oh yeah, Eric died. I just—I don't want anything to happen to you."

Santana looked at Jackson, trying to see his method of thinking. "Hun, everyone dies at some point. It's not your fault. Wouldn't you want to make the most of something why you can?"

Jackson made a 'humming' noise and looked into her eyes. "It's only been a few days...but I like you Santana. I don't know what I'd do with myself if you got hurt." Santana finally had enough and closed the gap between them, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest, squeezing him tightly in reassurance.

"I can't say that nothing's gonna happen. But who do you care about most? Ella, right? She's fine. Perfect even." Santana smiled when she felt Jackson nod against her head. "How about you come to dinner tonight? I know you paid of the apartment...but you're a man and probably haven't been shopping yet, am I right?"

"Maybe." He replied. "Sure, I'll come for dinner. Thanks, San." Santana just gave him another squeeze in response. After a minute she pecked his cheek and pulled away and smiled at him. "Shouldn't you be in class?" Jackson asked with a confused look on his face.

Santana's face turned to one of shock. "Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck. My place at 6, yeah? Later!" With that she turned around and jogged, with difficulty considering she was wearing heels, to the detention room again.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"Ella what are you doing?" Santana asked with a laugh when she saw the young child trying to eat one of the twigs that where part of a display by the T.V. "C'mere baby girl." She walked towards Ella and picked her up, resting her on her hips and tapping Ella's nose gently.

"Eat?" Ella questioned.

"We gotta wait for your uncle Jacky, remember." As Santana said this she heard a knocking at the front door. "That was ironic." She mumbled to herself and went to answer it.

"I swear you have a sixth sense." She told Jackson when he stood at the other side of the door with a smile. Santana quickly raked her eyes up and down, licking her lips at the jeans and black button up shirt he was wearing.

"Yeah, well my spidey senses where tingling. Some people can sing, some people can dance, I have a sixth sense. And how are you my beautiful girl?" he cooed.

"...I'm good." Santana said with a shrug, causing Jackson to let out a snort.

"I was talking to Ella. Nice to know how you are though." Jackson took Ella out of Santana's arms and peppered her face with little kisses, making the young girl giggle. "So what's for dinner, Santi?"

Santana froze with a pan in her hand at the nickname. "Santi?"

"We're having you for dinner? Do we get a thigh of an arm?"

Santana glared at him and gestured to the pan, "Just pasta."

After a few minutes the three where sat at Santana's kitchen table and where just starting to eat their dinner. "So when do you find out if you got the job at the school?" Santana asked.

"Find out? I already got it. He told me then. I'm no officially, in work."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Jackson was outside on Santana's small balcony, choosing to have a cigarette break whilst Santana puts Ella to bed. Hearing the door slide open and close again, he turned and smiled as Santana walked out, quickly grabbing the cigarette of him and taking a long drag herself.

"Oh here you go Santi, want a puff?" He joked.

"Sorry. I just can't smoke as freely with Ella around. Well, that and I've ran out." Jackson smiled and nodded before reaching out and taking back the cigarette.

"Mine. So how was work?"

"You wanna talk about work, really?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "Listen, I'm gonna be honest with you right now. I liked the kiss. And fuck me, I want to do it again. But I know that there's Ella to take into consideration. I also know that you're worried. But trust me when I say, I don't plan on hurting you, and fuck knows if you hurt me I'll cut your balls off. So how about this, we play it casual for a while. Nothing too serious, a few dates once in a while and if things are going well, we'll see where it goes. I kn—" Santana was interrupted by Jackson pushing his lips against hers. Placing both hands on her head and pulling back slightly, only place them back with less force.

"Shut up." He mumbled against her lips before lightly touching his tongue to her mouth. This prompted Santana to groan and pull away softly, wrapping her arms around his neck and grinning at him softly.

"Not with Ella here. You have really soft lips by the way.

"Oh thanks, it's the chap stick I use."

Santana jerked back and frowned, "What? Please for the love all things sexy, tell me you're joking."

"Yeah, I'm fucking joking. Jesus Christ." He said before pecking her forehead.

**So not much happened in this...and I've re-written this about 6 times and I just can't seem to get it right, so let's just make do with this. Next chapter should be next weekend, and WILL be longer. Promise.**

**Let me know what you guys thought, and if you want anything specific to happen.**


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